


One Mistake Matrimonially

by Gang_Aft_Agley



Category: Grantchester (TV), Miss Marple - Agatha Christie
Genre: Amanda needs a hug, Gen, God Bless Mrs. M (MRS. C!!!), Sidney Chamberlain just needs a smack upside the head, St. Mary Meade, and somewhere else to go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-01 05:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12149475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gang_Aft_Agley/pseuds/Gang_Aft_Agley
Summary: Aunt Cece isn't the only relative of Amanda's willing to take her in, and obviously, she can't stay in Grantchester any longer.  Aunt Jane has some good, sound, common-sense advice.





	One Mistake Matrimonially

"So sorry to just show up on your doorstep, like an unwanted parcel, but the truth is, I didn't know where else to _go_.  Father made it quite clear that Aunt Cece was no longer an option, and she's the only other family member left who doesn't look at me with an unspoken 'Ungrateful Trollop' lurking behind their eyes," Amanda sighed, leaning forward to hand Grace another alphabet block before slumping back on Jane Marple's old-fashioned but very comfortable sofa..

"Oh, quite, quite, my dear.  Luckily, your father has no hold over me, financial or otherwise; you and I are related through your dear mother, not through his side of the family, after all. And of course, I’m delighted to have you. So nice to have a young person about for a change; I shall have to send dear Sylvia a thank you present for suggesting it, as well as a wedding gift."

"And I couldn't stay in Grantchester a minute longer," she continued, looking up defiantly from where her daughter was babbling and cooing on the carpet.  "I can't sit around waiting for Sidney _bloody_ Chamberlain to make up his mind; I've wasted too much time on the damn stupid man as it is."

"Oh, no, no, no, you're _absolutely_ right," Aunt Jane nodded firmly, setting down her knitting to give Amanda's hand a comforting pat (ignoring the language with serene and imperturbable deafness, knowing all too well that her niece been had pushed beyond her limits and then some).  "It was unspeakably cruel of him, though I hate to think such things about a man of the cloth, leading you on like that, when he knew, in his heart of hearts, that he had no intention of leaving the church.  I'm very much tempted to ask Mr. Clement to ring him up and say a few stern words on the subject."

Amanda laughed weakly and ran the back of her free hand over suddenly watery eyes.

"No, I couldn't ask you to do that, Aunt Jane.  I know he feels wretched about the whole business, and anyway, a few stern words won't do any good."

"Well, as you please, my dear, though when Mr. Clement puts his mind to it, he can be quite a force to be reckoned with," her aunt said briskly, and resumed her knitting with energy.  "Now, of course you're welcome to stay with me as long as you like, and I'll have Mary run down to the vicarage to borrow their old bassinet once she's finished setting up the guest room, but I doubt St. Mary Mead is where you'd like to stay long term.  Not really the place for a young woman, you know."

Amanda pursed her lips, considering her next words carefully.

"Father would probably prefer it; he'd rather I disappeared entirely, come to think of it.  Grace, too."

Aunt Jane tsked, as Grace blew a timely raspberry and sent her block tower tumbling all over the hearth rug.

"Well said, dear child." Grace crowed happily, and Aunt Jane flashed her a quick, soft smile, before turning her attention back to the baby's mother.  "Your father is being remarkably pigheaded, and if I may say so, demonstrably un-Christian.  It's simply not _reasonable_ to shut yourself up for life just because you made an unfortunate marriage.  You're not the first young woman to do so, and you certainly won't be the last."

"Guy's a good man, and he's been quite wonderful about Grace," Amanda found herself protesting.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes, my dear, I'm sure he is a good man, a very good man, with many fine qualities, but he still wasn't the right man _for you_ , nor were you the right woman for him, and that's all that matters in the end, isn't it."

"I suppose so," she replied, rather dubiously, for it was difficult not to feel something of a failure after the break-up of her marriage.

"I know so," Aunt Jane said decisively, needles clicking.  "Your father picked him out, and that's always a mistake.  A parent's job is to veto a poor marital choice, not to encourage it, and while he suited your father's purposes, you and Guy didn't suit."

"No, no, we didn't.  We never did."  
  
"Well, no use crying over spilled milk, me dear, so it's to the future we must look, not the past.  Now, I know Guy's set you up with an allowance for Grace's upkeep, most generous of him, yes, quite so, but that won't last forever.  you'll need a job of some sort, perhaps not right away, but I'm sure you'd prefer to be independent now, stand on your own two feet as soon as possible."  
  
Amanda shrugged helplessly; sadly, she'd been a wife, and was now a mother, but she'd never been completely on her own in her entire life.  The prospect was ... rather daunting, to say the least.  Aunt Jane cast a shrewd eye over her, and continued.  
  
"Yes, quite so.  Nothing full time, not yet, not until Grace is in school, but I'm sure we can find someone to watch her for a few hours a week in the meantime.  Or several someones, if need be.  And you don't need to stay in St. Mary Mead, for that matter, if we can find you a suitable situation somewhere else.  Not London, no, no, no, far too expensive, but there are plenty of other places where I have old friends and relations who'd be delighted to help if we found you a situation there.  And of course, there's always the chance you'll find another young man.  The _right_ young man, this time."

Amanda opened her mouth, and then closed it again.  Aunt Jane smiled sympathetically. 

"Yes, my dear, I'm sure it's all rather overwhelming at the moment, but fortunately, we don't need to make any decisions right away.  We must think long and hard, and approach the matter with a clear mind and a careful eye."

"Quite so, Aunt Jane," Amanda murmured, spirits unaccountably lifted. There was simply something about Aunt Jane's presence that left one both soothed and energized, smoothing away worries and clearing the path forward, as it were. 

Aunt Jane nodded, satisfied, and began rolling up her knitting.

"Now, if you're feeling up to a nice walk and a little company this afternoon, Dolly Bantry has asked us up to tea at Gossington Hall, and she'd be delighted to see Grace, I'm sure.  Her own children are rather scattered to the winds, poor thing, and she doesn't get to see the grandchildren nearly as often as she'd like."

"If you're sure it wouldn't be an imposition to bring her..." Amanda said doubtfully.

Aunt Jane tsked again.

"Nonsense, they'll adore her.  Even Arthur Bantry; he's not much good with older children, and definitely at a loss with girls in general, but since she's still young enough to enjoy making a great deal of noise and riding about on his shoulders, they'll get along splendidly."

“She does enjoy both of those things,” Amanda admitted with a wry smile.

“Splendid. Now, we’ll just gather up our things, pop Grace in the perambulator, and go. And while we’re there, if I were you, I shouldn’t believe to a word dear Dolly says about the dreadful incident of the body in their library.”

Amanda gaped, rather unattractively, like a startled fish.

“A body … in the library? At Gossington Hall?”

Aunt Jane smiled enigmatically, and with no small amount of embarrassment.

“Oh, yes, my dear, it was very unfortunate all around, and luckily, I was able to be of some small assistance in clearing up who the young girl was, who killed her, and who put her in the library afterwards. But I’m quite sure Dolly will tell you all about it, over tea. Now, can you help me find my gloves? I’ve quite forgotten where I put them last.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Murder with Mirrors"/"They Do It With Mirrors".


End file.
